Saturday, October 6, 2018

October is the best season for a nice, spine-chilling scarefest, and HBO Asia will be rewarding horror fans with a 6-episode anthology called "Folklore".

Created by award-winning local director Eric Khoo, "Folklore" is a HBO Asia Original series that brings a modern or updated twist to the classic ghoulies and myths that Asians will be familiar with. The team of directors, specially requested by Eric Khoo to be part of the project, spin creepy tales that possess their own home countries' brand of horror.

Each story will be told in the local language that the episode is based on, and will also provide insights of the social issues that exist in that country.

Six episodes will air each Sunday exclusively on HBO (StarHub TV Ch 601), beginning from 7 October, 10 PM.They will also be available onHBO Go and HBO On Demand (StarHub TV Ch 602).

Non-subscribers of HBO will be able to watch the first episode "Folklore: A Mother's Love"via streaming on HBO GO for free, from 10 PM on October 7.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Even though the live action movie "Attack on Titan" Part 1 did not meet most of the fans' expectations, it still had a pretty good box office run both in Japan and locally in Red Dot Island.

Part 1 made SGD 3.8 million (USD 4.8 million) in its opening week in Japan, and over here, gross takings was over SGD 818,000 after four weeks of screening at only 15 locations.

Red Dot Diva watched the preview of Part 2 earlier this month and was all set to enjoy a similar "fear experience" that was the most enjoyable aspect in the first movie.

To her surprise and disappointment, the follow-up film had fewer hungry Titans stomping and much less gore, with hardly any character development. In fact, some of the characters were hardly even seen or had spoken dialogue - like Sasha, for instance.

Instead, there was a lot of dialogue which slowed down the pace considerably, making the movie harder to sit through without feeling impatient. The action did pick up toward the end but by then, one would hardly care enough for the young cadet team to root for their victory.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Meeting a fandom's high expectations is a rough deal, especially when a beloved anime is adapted to a different medium. So, it was inevitable that there was a gamut of reactions from those who have already watched "Attack on Titan" (AoT) Part One.

These ranged from the sheer disappointment of hardcore AoT lovers, to the "it's pretty OK" mentions by those who are not too invested in the franchise. Then, there are also the horror fans who relished the uncomfortable existential terror that ran through the course of the film, and those who loved the movie anyway.

AoT's creator Hajime Isayama, who is involved in the production, said that he was perplexed by the hate hurled at the movie adaptation, and assured that he as well as the director, writer and producers are taking in various opinions to better understand the fans' reactions.

Nevertheless, "Attack on Titan" topped the box office in Japan, with takings of about 600 million Yen (about SGD 6.8 million) on opening week.

Fans outside of Asia are eagerly waiting for the English version, and this week, FUNanimation announced the North American premiere dates. The Titans are set to stomp into theatres on September 30 for Part 1 and October 20 for Part 2.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Whether the live action movie adaptation of "Attack on Titan" (進撃の巨人) is worth feasting one's eyes upon would depend on one's palate.

Essentially, "Attack on Titan" is
about the remaining clusters of mankind battling to survive against
enormous creatures who stampede through the cities' barricades, and
whose single purpose is to devour every single human being in sight.

Both the original manga written and illustration by Hajime Isayama, as well as animated series, are hugely popular with anime fans. For such fans, the live action movie may turn out to be a disappointment.

Red Dot Diva
understands that there is an almost impossible challenge to adapting the character-rich world of manga and anime into a two-part movie, but in
this case, she felt that the key changes made were not entirely to the film's advantage.

Monday, July 7, 2014

This piece of very interesting San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) news came trickling into Red Dot Diva's mailbox earlier this morning.

The movie "Horns" will be promoted at the convention!

The movie is adapted from Joe Hill's (yes, he's the son of horrormeister Stephen King!) 2010 dark-fantasy novel of the same name. The book and movie unravels the tale about a guy called Ig Perrish, who woke up with horns suddenly growing on his head and
wielding unexpected powers after his girlfriend's mysterious rape and murder.

"Horns", which was directed by Alejandre Aja ("The Hills Have Eyes", "Piranha 3D") with screenplay by Keith Bunin, premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival last year.

What's most intriguing about the film adaptation was finding out that Daniel Radcliffe is in the lead role as Ig Perrish. The young actor seems determined to head in a different and darker direction from his Harry Potter days! The movie also stars Juno Temple, James Remar and Heather Graham.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

The cable channel has just announced the October 17, 2014 premiere date for new horror mini-series "Grace", a four-part story fully conceptualized and developed by HBO Asia. This is the company's first original mini-series.

"Grace" is set in current day urban Asia and is about an unspeakable
horror faced by a family due to a father's mistake. Ooooohhh... Red Dot Diva wonders what horrible boo-boos did Daddy commit. According to HBO Asia, "the Asian views concerning family, sacrifice and vengeance" will be examined in the
mini-series.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Those who already know Red Dot Diva pretty well, are quite familiar with her warped and dark thoughts - all which belies her petite, usually benign and sometimes chirpy demeanor.

It is probably why she was not too surprised when she first met indie graphic novel writer and TPub's founder Neil Gibson at the recent New York Comic Con. In person, Neil was jovial, articulate and funny. Other than his devious charms, one might not know that he is the mastermind behind a series of sinister and scary stories.

Well, on second thought, Red Dot Diva thinks it actually makes it even more shuddersome and creepy.

Armed with an incisive and wry sense of humour, Neil sat down with Red Dot Diva for half an hour to reveal more about the machinations behind the chilling "Twisted Dark" series. And .... well.... you might be surprised by what was revealed that day.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Demons, a cannibalistic-fanboy, a Philistine giant with an infamous name and why not, the Devil himself.

Put them altogether and what you get is a free action-horror webcomic called "Devil Inside".

The good vs evil drama that come in full technicolour is the result from the vibrant imaginations of actor Todd Stashwick ("The Riches", "Heroes", "Revolution", "Supernatural", "Justified") and comic book artist, he-with-the-awesome-hair Dennis Calero ("X-Men Noir", Stephen King's "The Little Green God of Agony", digital "Legends of the Dark Knight: Riddler in the Dark" with writer Charles Soule).

Friday, May 3, 2013

Local readers may already be familiar with Dave Chua's award-winning novella "Gone Case" which was adapted into two graphic novels recently. The graphic novels - which depicted a boy's coming of age story in the very heartlands of the HDB landscape - were a collaboration with artist Koh Hong Teng.

Both books were well-received by local readers mainly because it spoke right to the heart of the true-blue Red Dot Islander. Even more so when the books were visualized by Hong Teng, whose amazing artwork were so detailed and vivid.

This time round, in Epigram's graphic novel "The Girl Under The Bed" (with young artist Xiao Yan), Dave Chua turns to another favourite genre of his - horror. Despite being set during the Hungry Ghost Festival or "7th month" (in Hokkien), the story is also another realistic, coming-of-age tale of a teenage girl.

Red Dot Diva lays out some glittery offerings so that Dave will reveal what lies behind the spooky tale.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Blown Away was Red Dot Diva's initial reactions when she saw the latest sneak peek from "Hemlock Grove". The clip was released on IGN's website and then shown at a panel at Wondercon this weekend.

It was a werewolf transformation like she has never seen before.

Gruesome, bloody and yet, oh so beautiful. In fact, it was a painfully realistic transformation - if werewolves do exist in the real world.

"Hemlock Grove" is a new supernatural-murder-mystery set in a Pennsylvannia steel mill town, starring Famke Janssen, Bill Skarsgard, Landon Liboiron, Penelope Mitchell and Dougray Scott. The 13-episode series is produced by gore-meister Eli Roth and premieres on April 19, 2013, only on Netflix.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

One of the nicest things that could happen in the geek world is getting acquainted with the guys fromGilamon Studio.

If you are not familiar with Gilamon Studio already, it is an inspiring Malaysian creative outfit consisting of four talented and very affable creators - Julian "Lefty" Kam, Tan Eng Huat, Michael Chuah and Chin Sau Lim.

Marvel comic readers would be most familiar with artist Tan Eng Huat, whose works have graced titles like "X-Men: Legacy", "The Punisher" and "Thor: First Thunder". But, let it be known, that the other three creators are just as talented in their own right.

While Red Dot Diva has not personally met Michael Chuah yet, she has bumped into the rest of the team on several different occasions. In fact, she spent some time with Lefty and Eng Huat at their little space at the "Heavy Metal" booth during Comic-Con earlier this year. The guys were promoting their latest releases - a charming little gem called "Jimi Germ" that also has its own iTunes app, and a preview edition of "Zero Hero". It was definitely a comforting slice of home exchanging the familiar Singaporean-Malaysian accents and lingo with the two while in a far away land.

Red Dot Diva says that there are a number of movie screenings held off-site which one can still geek out over!

Here are those that Red Dot Diva is aware of:

1. Roddenberry's "Trek Nation"/ "White Room 02B3"

This is a double-billed screening of "Trek Nation" and the premiere of "White Room 02B3". Both films are made by the people of Roddenberry Entertainment - built from the legacy of Gene Roddenberry, scifi's pioneer in television history, who created "Star Trek".

"Trek Nation" is a lovingly-made documentary about Trek for the Trek fans. In this 2-hour piece, "Rod" Roddenberry, son of Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, takes a personal journey to understand the impact of his father's work, and how the groundbreaking series amassed thousands of Trekkies/ Trekkers around the globe.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

As Red Dot Diva's arduous search for compliant minions continues (their first task is to build a teleporter machine, oh curious ones), she was unable to partake in any effective stalking at the recent Long Beach Comic Convention (LBCC) 2011.

Instead, @theReal_Rebel, her Twitter pal based in Los Angeles, was there to represent Red Dot Diva's pervy intentions. And she cleverly managed to grab hold of frightmaster Steve Niles for an interview.

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You can tell that Steve Niles is one hot writer.

And not just due to his impersonation of the Devil (see pic on left).(Red Dot Diva: OHhhhhh MYyyyy...... nom nom nom...)